Closing the Skills Gap: Insights from our World Youth Skills Day Panel

This week for World Youth Skills Day, our ‘Connecting Ideas’ webinar brought together a panel of speakers to share knowledge and explore how the young people we work with are empowered to make tangible changes not only to their own lives but to the lives of their communities and beyond. ?

Our Future of Work report indicates that young people know what skills are needed to do well in the world of work and are eager to acquire them, but they feel as though they are not acquiring these skills due to failings of the education system and employers, leaving them underprepared for work.? ?

The panel hosted by KTI programme manager Damilola Y S. , included guests from our local delivery partners in Asia and Africa – the Aga Khan Foundation and Asante Africa Foundation as well as KTI alumnus Ioannis Konstantopoulos from The Sports Footprint .?

We have shared some key takeaways from our panel members on what skills young people need today to thrive in the global workforce as well as how different stakeholders can help support young people in acquiring these skills.?

Modern challenges require holistic solutions?

The session opened with reflections on the importance of World Youth Skills Day. Geoffrey Kasangaki, MBA, PGD/GLED , Deputy CEO of Asante Africa Foundation highlighted the global nature of challenges facing youth today and the importance of directing resources towards skills development that will allow young people to “create impact and employment opportunities for their colleagues” removing the need to move to urban areas to seek employment.?

RAFAY EAJAZ HUSSAIN , State Programme Manager from the Aga Khan Foundation, went on to share how Project Lehar, a programme delivered in partnership with The King’s Trust International is helping women develop life skills. ?He explained that “when you are engaging with young people, especially young women, you need to have an integrated and holistic approach with them”. Engaging with young people includes engaging with their families and communities. The Community Challenge allows young women to take what they have learned and share it with their communities. A holistic approach to skills development also gives young people the ability to transition during their careers. ?

Digital skills are the future of work?

When asked about which skills they think are the most important for young people today, Geoffrey explained the importance of encouraging youth to develop entrepreneurship skills in order to create their own job opportunities as well as developing their digital skills which can allow them to create work from anywhere in the world. Programmes like Enterprise Challenge allow young people to take advantage of opportunities in their local areas: “We’ve seen livelihoods being transformed through these small enterprises and at a later time they are becoming bankable”. He went to explain that “we are living in the digital world and digitally trusted skills become very essential … Ensuring that young people have access to the necessary digital skills to strive in the workplace, it is important no matter where they are to equalise these opportunities.” ??

Ioannis Konstantopoulos KTI alumnus, recipient of the 2023 Global Sustainability Award for Europe,?and CEO of The Sports Footprint, shared his reflections on the modern education system. “I feel that the challenge that the contemporary education systems have to face is that the world is changing and moving much more rapidly than 200 or 500 years ago because of technological advancements, digital skills, climate change and all the impacts of [it].” ?

It takes a village?

We asked our panel which stakeholders they thought were the most important for ensuring skills development amongst young people, who shared the importance of taking a youth first approach to understand their needs. Rafay also emphasised the role of the state and the community, “when we are engaging young women, male participation becomes very important. The participation of the father, elder, brother – family community, everybody comes to play as a partner.” ?

Ioannis Konstantopoulos also highlighted the role of the private sector adding, “Employers should invest in education … it’s a win/win situation for the company or the enterprise. This investment multiplies positive effect because if a person invests in me then I can transfer these skills to my next employer benefitting the market”. ?

The panel closed with their hopes for the future of skills development for youth. One word to summarise their thoughts – “Quality”, “Sustainable” and “Resilience”.??

Visit our website to find out more about how our programmes are delivering education, employability and enterprise opportunities for young people and supporting them to develop skills for the work.?

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